CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
1. Field of the Invention
The field of the invention relates to engines for boats, and more particularly, to a new and improved method of determining if the water impeller, which is located in the outdrive unit, of a marine engine, and which pumps coolant water to the engine from the body of water on which the boat is disposed, is functioning correctly.
The impeller tester provides for the measurement of the inlet and outlet water pressures. These pressures are measured and transmitted through a calibrated gauge or calibrated transducers and lamp modification to indicate to the operator if the water impeller has adequate water supply and if the water impeller is functioning properly.
2. Description of the Prior Art
While various devices and components have been utilized in the prior art in allowing the marine engine to be started and run out of water, they have not communicated if the water impeller in the stern drive or outdrive unit is functioning properly.
Prior state of the art devices are only designed to supply water to the marine engines outdrive unit. These devices allow for a method to attach a standard garden hose from a faucet to the outdrive unit. The amount of water supplied from the faucet is not monitored by these devices and only allows that water be supplied to the marine engine by the water pressure which is available within the municipal water system. A fault of these water supply systems is that they do not indicate if sufficient water pressure is being supplied to safely run the engine, without damaging the water impeller, nor can they determine if the water impeller which is located in the outdrive unit is functioning and capable of pumping non-pressurized water to the marine engine. These devices thereby will allow the engine to function correctly and not over heat when tested out of the water even though the water impeller in the outdrive unit has failed and is no longer capable of pumping ambient water (unpressurized) to the marine engine when the watercraft is put in actual service.
As such, it may be appreciated that there continues to be a need for a new and improved method to monitor water pressures both while supplying water to a marine engine when being tested out of water and while the craft is in actual service.
The testing of the watercraft's marine engine is done out of water in order to determine if the marine engine is operating properly prior to taking it to an area intended for watercraft use.
Prior state of the art devices allow water to be supplied to the marine engine but do not communicate if the outdrive components are functioning properly. This is due to the water being supplied under pressure. Wherein, water under pressure will supply the engine with sufficient coolant so that it appears to be functioning properly even though the water impeller has failed and will not supply water to the marine engine when the watercraft is put in actual use.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,100,754 (Seegers) discloses a pressure gauge which includes a dual gauge, with one portion of the dial graduated for vacuum pressure and a second portion for positive pressure readings. The dial is adjustable to provide a desired zero reference.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,227,514 (Seegers) discloses another type of pressure gauge in which the dial is also calibrated for vacuum pressure and for positive pressure. The dial is adjustable to provide a desired zero reference.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,247,102 (Sugdenet al) discloses a pressure gauge having an adjustable dial.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,969,931 (Lanning) discloses tester apparatus for testing the hydraulic capabilities of an outboard drive assembly.
Italian patent 277,473 (Drager) discloses the coupling of a gauge to a fluid line.
Italian patent 546,083 (Malakoff) discloses the use of a pressure gauge between threaded ends for insertion into a fluid line.